(2) Problem While Bleeding Trim

JarJarBlinks

Cadet
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
22
Background: 1973 Mercury 115HP Outboard 2 stroke. Extremely well taken care of through the years, needed 1 rebuild due to general wear and tear.


Problem 1:
OK when I bought this engine/boat, the PO stated that the trim unit leaks a little bit and it just needs topping off every other year. I was curious why it was leaking and I traced the problem to a threaded hydraulic line fitting going into the trim pump. It could be either the threads on the fitting or the sealing surface of the "nut" to the line. Really hard to tell which...

Anyone have an idea on how to figure out that problem?

Problem 2:

Apparently it has been over 2 years since the trim unit has been filled as some air got into the hydraulic lines. The pump will make a high pitched "air in the liquid pump" sound when trimming down but not up. The nose goes away when the engine hits the lower stop and the trim lines "tighten up". The engine still raises/lowers just fine and it isn't any noticably slower than before.

I figure that having air in the lines isn't a good thing so I have been trying to bleed the air out of the system. The engine has 2 cylinders so I bleed them according to my service manual. On 3 of the 4 bleed screws, when first loostened the fluid came out quite vigirously and during the actual bleed process the fluid spouted out by an inch or 2.

But for the Down bleed screw for one cylinder there was problems. When I removed the bleed screw there was very little residual pressure in the line and therefor little fluid came out. During the bleeding process itself, fluid came out MUCH slower than the rest of the ports. 1 air bubble did come out, but it did not make a difference with the noise.

Why does the fluid come out so much slower from this port?


In sumation:
1) What is the best way to fix a leaking hydraulic line fitting?

2) Why does oil come out of 1 bleed screw much slower than the other 3 and resulting in not fixing the air problem?

Any ideas?
Thanks!
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,535
Re: (2) Problem While Bleeding Trim

There is no good way to fix the bad threads in the the pump fitting. Yu might try some teflon tape.

Bleeding must be done with the bleed screws facing up while bleeding. Remove one of the down bleed screws (motor vertical) and activate pump in down direction. oil should shoot straight up 2+inches. Repeat with other down bleed screw. Refill pump.

Now remove trim cylinders and face up bleed screw directly up. Remove screw and run pump in up direction. oil should shoot up 2+ inches. Repeat with other cylinder. Refill pump
 

JarJarBlinks

Cadet
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
22
Re: (2) Problem While Bleeding Trim

There is no good way to fix the bad threads in the the pump fitting. Yu might try some teflon tape.

Bleeding must be done with the bleed screws facing up while bleeding. Remove one of the down bleed screws (motor vertical) and activate pump in down direction. oil should shoot straight up 2+inches. Repeat with other down bleed screw. Refill pump.

Now remove trim cylinders and face up bleed screw directly up. Remove screw and run pump in up direction. oil should shoot up 2+ inches. Repeat with other cylinder. Refill pump

The bleed screws were all facing up when bled. The one down screw did not shoot oil up at all, it merely dribbled out. I bled that screw 10 times (with waiting 90 seconds inbetween per the service manual), and it still dribbled out.

Any ideas?

Steve
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
28,535
Re: (2) Problem While Bleeding Trim

Both down (and up) hoses are connected together at the pump. Both should eject oil at the same rate. Maybe you have some debris in the hose or pump? Pull the hose off the cylinder and try the pump motor. The oil should really shoot out.
 

JarJarBlinks

Cadet
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
22
Re: (2) Problem While Bleeding Trim

I found that the suspect hose was too tight coming out of the splashwell and over the transom, causing it to flatten out and restrict flow. Still makes the air noise so sometime soon I will try rebleeding again to see if this caused the air bubbles to be stuck in the hose.

Anybody know an easy way of tracing an oil leak like I described. I tried pinpointing it by cleaning it off and looking for the leak after a few days but the oil just smears making it impossible to tell specifically where it comes from. Any tricks of the trade?
 
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